OCTOBER 1, 1959

HYDE PARK—There are a number of things I wanted to speak of in this column, though some of them are already in the past.

I hope many of my readers read the speeches of Israel's Foreign Minister Golda Meier and the Arab delegate before the General Assembly of the United Nations on the subject of the Suez Canal being closed to Israel. The Arab delegate seemed primarily to be concerned about wiping out the existence of Israel.

The existence of Israel, however, was settled over a decade ago in the U.N., and the fact that the Arab states have never been willing to recognize and accept this fact of history has been a detriment to both Israel and the Arab states. Eleven years have now passed and it must be obvious to the world that Israel exists as a nation and is actually doing rather well.

The real crux of the Suez Canal situation is whether any nation has a right to close what has been accepted as an international waterway open to the world's shipping. Once this is an accepted fact, no waterway any longer belongs exclusively to any individual country. I think the day will come when all such waterways used by the world's trade should be owned and run by the U.N.

In any case, I do not feel that international waterways should be used to throttle the trade of any nation, so I am glad that this has come before the world body, and I hope the U.N. will look upon it from a long-range point of view. For if a small nation is deprived of a right then no nation is safe in exercising its international rights.

While I am talking about the U.N., I have been interested in the fact that Committee Four has been requested to hear an American, speaking as a representative of the native tribes of Southwest Africa.

I hope that South Africa's attitude will change in this area of the world, and certainly the native tribes have a right to be heard. So, I am glad to know that Committee Four has agreed to hear a very responsible, courageous young man, Al Lowenstein, who traveled through that area. And I hope that the recordings he succeeded in making also will be heard by Committee Four, for these will give the point of view of the native leaders themselves, which I think is important for the committee to hear.

On Tuesday evening I went to the Tuscan Masonic Lodge in Brooklyn, to which my husband belonged and of which my sons are still members, I believe. This was the first time they had invited a woman to address them at one of their Ladies' Nights, and I was presented with a very beautiful plaque, which will take its place in the archives in Hyde Park.